Bench carries No. 20 Virginia past Boston College

CHARLOTTESVILLE — Early four trouble for Joe Harris and Mike Tobey, plus sub-par long-range and free-throw shooting, ought to be problematic for Virginia's basketball team. Not versus Boston College on Wednesday.

Indeed, such matters bordered on trivial as the 20th-ranked Cavaliers shredded the interior of the ACC's worst defense in a 77-67 victory at John Paul Jones Arena.

Virginia cruised throughout the second half until a late flurry of jumpers by the Eagles and missed free throws by the Cavaliers turned things squirrelly. A 15-2 run drew Boston College within 73-67 in the final minute before Malcolm Brogdon made two free throws to end any doubt.

"He's never content," Brogdon said of coach Tony Bennett's reaction to Virginia's fade, "but we did win. ... Just made a few uncharacteristic errors on defense."

Continuing his drive for All-ACC honors after missing last season with a foot injury, Brogdon had team-highs of 17 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists, his first career double-double. He made 8 of 9 free throws, his teammates only 11 of 25.

Brogdon's rebounds and assists were career-bests, and he scored in double figures for the 10th consecutive game.

"The addition of Brogdon this year is incredible," Eagles coach Steve Donahue said.

Officials whistled a season-high 28 fouls against Boston College and 23 against Virginia, one shy of the Cavaliers' high. That made depth paramount, and Virginia's bench outscored BC's 39-10, with Justin Anderson, Anthony Gill and Evan Nolte combining for 35 of the points.

When games are called tight, "balance and depth become significant," Bennett said, "and that showed … when we needed it."

Virginia needed it because Tobey went scoreless in a seven-minute cameo, while Harris played only 22 minutes.

"You look at Evan Nolte, started a lot of games last year, coming off the bench," Donahue said. "Anthony Gill is a terrific player, comes off the bench. Obviously Justin Anderson, who to me is one of the best players in this league, comes off the bench. Very impressive."

Virginia (18-5, 9-1 ACC) has won six straight and remains a game behind league-leader Syracuse in the loss column. Ryan Anderson led Boston College (6-16, 2-7) with 20 points.

The Cavaliers seized a 20-5 lead with a 15-0 binge that exposed BC on both ends. The margin was 40-21 at intermission, courtesy of Gill's tip-in at the buzzer.

The only drama surrounding the second half was whether Virginia would lead by 20 or more for the eighth time in 10 ACC outings. A London Perrantes 3-pointer made it 45-24 early in the period.

By any metric, Boston College is the ACC's worst defensive team. The Eagles entered Wednesday ranked last among the league's 15 teams in points allowed and opponents' field-goal percentage.

Sure enough, the Cavaliers shot 48.2 percent, 54.8 inside the 3-point arc, and outrebounded the Eagles 40-27 to extend their home ACC winning streak to 14 games, two shy of the program record, set from 1980-82.

Virginia next plays Saturday at Georgia Tech. The conference's most decimated team, the Yellow Jackets (12-11, 3-7) lost 45-41 at Clemson on Tuesday in the lowest-scoring ACC game of the shot-clock era.

Georgia Tech was without leading scorer Trae Golden (groin) and top rebounder Robert Carter Jr. (knee). Also, reserve Solomon Poole was dismissed from the program Monday.

Translation: Virginia could have a decided depth advantage.

"I think Tony and his guys have done an incredible job developing this team individually, collectively, physically, skill-wise," Donahue said. "It's just real impressive what they do. They go about it the right way, and I admire it."